Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project (SACP)

Department of Agricultural Marketing
Sech Bhaban, (Room-602), 22, Manik Miah Avenue
Dhaka – 1207.
Request for Expression of Interest (EOI) for Selection of Consulting Firm/Training Institute for Farmer
Training on Business Management Skills
1 Ministry / Division : Ministry of Agriculture
2 Agency : Department of Agricultural Marketing
3 Name of Procuring Entity : Component Director, Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project (DAM Part)
4 Invitation for : Selection of Consulting Firms / Training Institute for Farmer Training on Business Management Skills
5 Invitation Reference : 12.02.0000.541.41.001.19-123 dated 13/10/2020
6 EOI Submission Deadline : 28-10-2020 by 14:00pm
7 Procurement Method : Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS)
8 Budget and Source of Fund : GoB and IFAD
9 Project Code : 224263700
10 Name and Address of Office of Component Director, Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project (SACP), Department of
Receiving Tender Document Agricultural Marketing, Sech Bhaban (Room-602), 22, Manik Miah Avenue, Dhaka– 1215.
11 Place of Opening Tender : Office of Component Director, Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project (SACP), Department of
Document Agricultural Marketing, Sech Bhaban (Room-602), 22, Manik Miah Avenue, Dhaka– 1215.
12 Training Objective : The objective of the training is to enhance the capacity of farmers in Business Management Skills. Keeping in line
with this broad objective, the specific objectives of the training, not limited to, are stated below:
a) To impart training to farmers including DAM officials at project areas based on training manual by deploying
experienced and capable trainers.
b) To identify the need of the farmers and customize the training modules duly considering the local context, if
necessary, to best serve the farmer queries.
c) To assist farmers to develop strategies to identify target markets, map potential buyers, and understand the price
dynamics, seaonality and encourage for entrepreneurship
13 Brief Description of the : a) Selected firm will advise the farmers and agricultural business personnel to improve the existing marketing
Assignment system, identify the problems and offer solutions to develop the present agricultural product marketing systems in
Bangladesh through training.
b) Firm will conduct the training with different stakeholders such as farmers, businessmen, middlemen, DAM
officials, etc. It may work in a diverse range of agricultural product marketing such as vegetables, cereals, fruits.
c) There should be 25 Farmers in each batch and a minimum of 05 lectures (each length of 1 hour) in 1-day training
schedule. But additional arrangements of refreshment, quality training materials, etc. may be required for training,
trainers, and guests.
d) The lectures should include practical sessions along with theoretical discussions for better understanding.
e) The firm will be responsible for proper management of training program including quality training materials, food
and refreshments, venue management, etc.
f) It should provide agricultural product marketing strategies (mainly HVCs) in the perspective of Bangladesh.
Project office will provide the list of HVCs and training firm must include those HVCs in training sessions for
smooth traceability of HVCs.
g) It should conduct training according to contract, keep records (hardcopy and softcopy), prepare completion reports
with feedback from the participants, and submit to project office in time.
14 Eligibility of Firms : The firm should have:
a) Registration certificate with valid and up to date trade license, VAT registration, TIN certificate, income tax
certificate, bank solvency from scheduled Bank, and audit report for previous 2 (two) Financial years.
b) Minimum 03 (three) years experience in conducting training at farmer level of similar magnitude and complexity.
Firms with ISO 9001:2015 certification will be given preference
c) Qualified and Experienced resource persons and trainers in respective field. A team of minimum 04 (four) trainers
with at least 03 (three) years of domain experience in economics, agri-business, agri-economics, business
administration, and related fields to agri marketing. Minimum academic qualification: Bachelors degree in these
fields. The team comprised of a lead resource person as team leader. Preference will be given to trainers with
experience in the region and local language. The firm should have manpower and logistics support to conduct
training at Upazilla Level
d) Average annual turnover of BDT 40 (forty) lacs in previous two financial years
e) Availability of minimum liquid assets i.e. working capital or credit line(s) from any Scheduled Bank of BDT 10
(ten) lacs as working capital.
15 Other Details :  The firm should submit all necessary documents following Clause 115(2) of PPR-2008 to demonstrate their
eligibility. The EOI must be duly signed by authorized signatory on all pages (one original copy), scanned copies
and supporting documents in a compressed (zipped) folder should be emailed at [email protected] (official
email) before the stipulated date and time.
 The firm may submit more than one packages depending on its interest, capability, expertise, and convenience. In
case a firm (same) shortlisted in more than one packages, the project limits to maximum three (3) packages, which
meets the cumulative qualification crieria.
 The firm should submit EOIs at project office maintaining heath guidelines prescribed by GoB/WHO due to Covid-
19 pandemic.
 Terms of Reference (ToR) is displayed in the official website at www.dam.gov.bd
 Training programs are offered in packages including topics, number, and area as shown in the Table below.
 Table 1: Business Management Skills: Upzilla and Number of Packages
Package Package Name Upzilla Number of Batches
Number
BMS. P1. BMS-Shyamnagar-50 Shyamnagar, Satkhira. 50
BMS. P2. BMS-Kaliganj-60 Kaliganj, Satkhira 60
BMS. P3. BMS-Fakirhat-60 Fakirhat, Bagerhat 60
BMS. P4. BMS-Kachua-60 Kachua, Bagerhat 60
BMS. P5. BMS-Kawkhali-60 Kawkhali, Pirojpur 60
BMS. P6. BMS-Nalchiti-60 Nalchity, Jhalokathi 60
BMS. P7. BMS-Kathalia-60 Kathalia, Jhalokathi 60
BMS. P8. BMS-Lalmohon-60 Lalmohan, Bhola 60
BMS. P9. BMS-Char Fesson-60 Char Fesson, Bhola 60
BMS. P10. BMS-Monpura-50 Monpura, Bhola 50
BMS. P11. BMS-Mirzaganj-50 Mirzaganj, Patuakhali 50
BMS. P12. BMS-Rangabali-40 Rangabali, Patuakhali 40
BMS. P13. BMS-Kalapara-60 Kalapara, Patuakhali 60
BMS. P14. BMS-Amtoli-60 Amtoli, Barguna 60
BMS. P15. BMS-Batagi-60 Batagi, Barguna 60
BMS. P16. BMS-Bamna-50 Bamna, Barguna 50
BMS. P17. BMS-Taltoli-60 Taltoli, Barguna 60
BMS. P18. BMS-Pathorghata-60 Pathorghata, Barguna. 60
BMS. P19. BMS-Chagolnaiya-60 Chhagolnaiya, Feni 60
BMS. P20. BMS-Chatkhil-60 Chatkhil, Noakhali 60
BMS. P21. BMS-Hatia-60 Hatia, Noakhali 60
BMS. P22. BMS-Kabirhat-60 Kabirhat, Noakhali 60
BMS. P23. BMS-Subarnachar-60 Subarnachar, Noakhali 60
BMS. P24. BMS-Kamalnagar-60 Kamalnagar, Laxmipur 60
BMS. P25. BMS-Mirsharai-60 Mirsharai, Chattogram 60
BMS. P26. BMS-Boakhali-60 Boakhali, Chattogram 60
BMS. P27. BMS-Banshkhali-60 Banshkhali, Chattogram 60
BMS. P28. BMS-Chandanaish-60 Chandanaish, Chattogram 60
BMS. P29. BMS-Fatikchhari-60 Fatikchhari, Chattogram 60
BMS. P30. BMS-Sandwip-60 Sandwip, Noakhali 60
Total 1740
16 Name and Contact : Dr. Md. Ashrafuzzaman, Component Director, Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project, Department of
of Procuring Entity Agricultural Marketing, Sech Bhaban (Room-602), 22, Manik Miah Avenue, Dhaka– 1215.
17 Reserved Right : The procuring entity reserves the right to accept or reject any packages or all EOIs
18 Procurement Rules : The tender will be processed in accordance with GoB Public Procurement Rules – 2008 in consistent with IFAD’s
Procurement Framework

Component Director
Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project (SACP)
Department of Agricultural Marketing
 Terms of Reference for Farmers’ Training on Business Management Skill
1. Introduction
A. Country Background:
Bangladesh is a lower middle-income country with declining rates of poverty among its 160
million people. Sustained economic growth along with steady agricultural improvement has
been fundamental to this reduction. Sustainability of growth, particularly agricultural growth,
is however vulnerable to climate change. Given that the agriculture sector remains
fundamentally important to the country’s prosperity and it utilizes three-quarters of the scarce
land space of Bangladesh and supports the livelihoods of the majority of the population, it is
passing through some immediate challenges in promoting sustainable development. The
challenges include continuing to increased production and achieving recognizable quality
standards despite loss of land to other uses and climate change.
Bangladesh aims to become a middle income country by 2021; to achieve this will require
among others that the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) overcomes considerable challenges
in agricultural development and rural economic growth. The country’s annual GDP growth
averaged about 7% between 2000 and 2018. Bangladesh has also made noteworthy gains in
education and health, and is well set to achieve most of the MDGs. Despite these gains,
Bangladesh remains a poor country, with a 2018 GDP per capita of around US$ 1700 and is
regularly hit by natural disasters. The country has already been facing several climate change
effects like increasing cyclones, flood frequency probabilities, erosion, inundation, rising
water labels, salt water intrusion, and biological effects. Coastal environments are particularly
at risk include mangroves, tidal deltas and low-lying coastal plains, sandy beaches, coastal
wetlands, estuaries and coral reefs. These bio-geophysical possessions will have consequent
effects on ecosystems and eventually affect socio-economic systems in the coastal zone.
B. Agricultural Sector:
Bangladesh remains a predominantly agricultural country. Although the contribution of
agriculture to the country’s economic output has declined over the last decade, the agriculture
sector growth rate was 2.17% in 2012-13 and it remains one of the main contributors to GDP
growth, and importantly in poverty reduction. The majority of poor people lives in rural areas
and depends on agriculture for their livelihood, with most being small-scale, marginal and
landless farmers owning less than one acre of land, and commonly renting land under share
cropping arrangements. Small and marginal farmers comprise approximately 86% of the
farming community.
This project is located in the southern region where climate change hazard intensity is high in
compare to other regions of Bangladesh. Inundated area of southern region would increase by
14%; water and saline intensity in soil and water will increase. In lagging district study, it has
been shown the rank of the bottom 15 districts which are most exposed and vulnerable to
environmental and water related risks and 7 of these districts are in project area.
C. Smallholder Farmers:
The government classifies farm sizes as follows: (i) Landless – no farm holdings; owning no
land or less than 0.05 acres, (ii) Small Farmer – owning 0.05 to 2.49 acres of land, (iii)
Medium Farmer – owning 2.50 to 7.49 acres of land, and (iv) Larger Farmer – owning more
than 7.5 acres of land. According to 2008 agriculture census, there were about 3.1 million
farming households in southern Bangladesh, with 2.7 million rated as smallholders. This area
had the largest concentration of poor people (26.7%) compared to the Bangladesh average
(17.6%). The region is susceptible to exogenous shocks, which have the greatest impact on
poor people, including cyclones and storm surges, land erosion, limited livelihood
opportunities, resource degradation, salinity, flooding and water logged soils.
D. Department of Agricultural Marketing:
The Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) is mandated to oversee and develop the
marketing system, which is dominated by the private traders. It operates under the Market
Regulation Act – 1964 (amended in 1985). The vision of DAM is to contribute to national
economy through the management of interrelated agricultural marketing system and the
development of agricultural business environment with producers, traders, and consumers. In
this project, DAM serves under the Component 2. This ‘terms of reference (TOR)’ is being
prepared within component 2 for the outsourcing of Farmers Training on Business
Management Skill where smallholder farmer groups of the project area along with related
market intermediaries will receive the training through outsourcing firm. DAM and DAE
officials will also participate in the training as trainers.
2. Brief Overview of Project:
A. Project Goal and Objective:
The main goal of the project is to contribute to Bangladesh’s agriculture smallholders’
responsiveness and competitiveness in high value crops (HVC) production and marketing of
fresh and/or processed products. The objective is to increase farmer income and livelihood
through demand-led productivity growth, diversification, and marketing in a changing
climatic condition. In order to achieve the goals and objectives of the project, different types
of training, national and international research and foreign exposure visit are included in the
Development Project Plan (DPP) to enhance the capacity of the management team.
B. Project Components:
The project supports production enhancement, identifies market opportunities for both fresh
and processed products, encourages value added post-harvest management, builds
competitiveness of HVCs to move households from subsistence farming into commercial
farming through three technical components supported by a project management component.
They are:
Component 1 – Enhanced production of HVC and technology adoption
Component 2 – Processing and marketing of HVC
Component 3 – Climate resilient surface water management
DAM serves the responsibilities of Component 2 where following objectives will be met:
i. Improving market linkage
ii. Increasing post-harvest and processing investment
iii. Development of food safety and nutrition measures along the value chain

C. Project Area:
The project will be implemented in 11 districts of 03 divisions covering 30 upazillas in the
southern region of Bangladesh.
Table 1: Project Area
Division District Upazilla District Upazilla
1. Bagerhat 1. Fakirhat 2. Shatkhira 3. Shyamnagar
Khulna
2. Kachua 4. Kaligonj
3. Pirojpur 5. Kawkhali 6. Jhalokathi 6. Kathalia
Barisal
4. Bhola 8. Lalmohon 7. Nalchiti
 Division District Upazilla District Upazilla
9. Charfasson 7. Borguna 14. Amtoli
10. Monpura 15. Batagi
5. Patuakhali 11. Mirzagonj 16. Bamna
12. Rangabali 17. Taltoli
13. Kalapara 18. Pathorghata
8. Chattogram 19. Boalkhali 9. Noakhali 25. Subarnochar
20. Fatikchari 26. Chatkhil
21. Chandanaish 27. Kabirhat
Chattogram
22. Banshkhali 28. Hatia
23. Sandwip 10. Feni 29. Chagolnaiya
24. Mirsharai 11. Laxmipur 30. Kamalnagar
Total 11 Districts 30 Upazillas

3. Training Objectives
The objective of the training is to enhance the capacity of farmers in Business Management
Skills. Keeping in line with this broad objective, the specific objectives of the training, not
limited to, are stated below:
d) To impart training to farmers including DAM officials at project areas based on
training manual by deploying experienced and capable trainers.
e) To identify the need of the farmers and customize the training modules duly
considering the local context, if necessary, to best serve the farmer queries.
f) To assist farmers to develop strategies to identify target markets, map potential
buyers, and understand the price dynamics, seasonality and encourage for
entrepreneurship.
4. Scope of Work
h) Selected firm will advise the farmers and agricultural business personnel to improve
the existing marketing system, identify the problems and offer solutions to develop
the present agricultural product marketing systems in Bangladesh through training.
i) Firm will conduct the training with different stakeholders such as farmers,
businessmen, consumers, DAM officials, etc. It may work in a diverse range of
agricultural product marketing such as vegetables, cereals, fruits.
j) There should be 25 farmers in each batch and a minimum of 05 lectures (each length
of 1 hour) in 1-day training schedule. But additional arrangements of refreshment,
quality training materials, etc. may be required for training, trainers, and guests.
k) The lectures should include practical sessions along with theoretical discussions for
better understanding.
l) The firm will be responsible for proper management of training program including
quality training materials, food and refreshments, venue management, etc.
m) It should provide agricultural product marketing strategies (mainly HVCs) in the
perspective of Bangladesh. Project office will provide the list of HVCs and training
firm must include those HVCs in training sessions for smooth traceability of HVCs.
 n) It should conduct training according to contract, keep records (hardcopy and
softcopy), prepare completion reports with feedback from the participants, and submit
to project office in time.
o) Training programs are offered in packages including topics, number, and area as
shown in the following Table 2:

Table 2: Training Subject and Area

Package Number Package Name Upzilla Number of Batches
BMS. P31. BMS-Shyamnagar-50 Shyamnagar, Satkhira. 50
BMS. P32. BMS-Kaliganj-60 Kaliganj, Satkhira 60
BMS. P33. BMS-Fakirhat-60 Fakirhat, Bagerhat 60
BMS. P34. BMS-Kachua-60 Kachua, Bagerhat 60
BMS. P35. BMS-Kawkhali-60 Kawkhali, Pirojpur 60
BMS. P36. BMS-Nalchiti-60 Nalchity, Jhalokathi 60
BMS. P37. BMS-Kathalia-60 Kathalia, Jhalokathi 60
BMS. P38. BMS-Lalmohon-60 Lalmohan, Bhola 60
BMS. P39. BMS-Char Fesson-60 Char Fesson, Bhola 60
BMS. P40. BMS-Monpura-50 Monpura, Bhola 50
BMS. P41. BMS-Mirzaganj-50 Mirzaganj, Patuakhali 50
BMS. P42. BMS-Rangabali-40 Rangabali, Patuakhali 40
BMS. P43. BMS-Kalapara-60 Kalapara, Patuakhali 60
BMS. P44. BMS-Amtoli-60 Amtoli, Barguna 60
BMS. P45. BMS-Batagi-60 Batagi, Barguna 60
BMS. P46. BMS-Bamna-50 Bamna, Barguna 50
BMS. P47. BMS-Taltoli-60 Taltoli, Barguna 60
BMS. P48. BMS-Pathorghata-60 Pathorghata, Barguna. 60
BMS. P49. BMS-Chagolnaiya-60 Chhagolnaiya, Feni 60
BMS. P50. BMS-Chatkhil-60 Chatkhil, Noakhali 60
BMS. P51. BMS-Hatia-60 Hatia, Noakhali 60
BMS. P52. BMS-Kabirhat-60 Kabirhat, Noakhali 60
BMS. P53. BMS-Subarnachar-60 Subarnachar, Noakhali 60
BMS. P54. BMS-Kamalnagar-60 Kamalnagar, Laxmipur 60
BMS. P55. BMS-Mirsharai-60 Mirsharai, Chattogram 60
BMS. P56. BMS-Boakhali-60 Boakhali, Chattogram 60
BMS. P57. BMS-Banshkhali-60 Banshkhali, Chattogram 60
BMS. P58. BMS-Chandanaish-60 Chandanaish, Chattogram 60
BMS. P59. BMS-Fatikchhari-60 Fatikchhari, Chattogram 60
BMS. P60. BMS-Sandwip-60 Sandwip, Noakhali 60
1740

5. Eligibility Criteria
The firm should have:
f) Registration certificate with valid and up to date trade license, VAT registration, TIN
certificate, income tax certificate, bank solvency from scheduled bank, and audit
report for previous 2 (two) financial ears.
 g) Minimum 03 (three) years’ experience in conducting training at farmer level of
similar magnitude and complexity. Firms with ISO 9001:2015 certification will be
given preference.
h) Qualified and experienced resource persons and trainers in respective field. A team of
minimum 04 (four) trainers with at least 03 (three) years of domain experience in
economics, agri-business, agri-economics, business administration, and related fields
to agri-marketing. Minimum academic qualification: Bachelor’s degree in these fields
The team comprised of a lead resource person as team leader. Preference will be
given to trainers with experience in the region and local language. The firm should
have manpower and logistics support to conduct training at upazilla level.
i) Average annual turnover of BDT 40 (forty) lac in previous two financial years.
j) Availability of minimum liquid assets, i.e., working capital or credit line(s) from any
scheduled bank of BDT 10 (ten) lacs as working capital.
6. Training Methodology
i. Training Manual: The firm will be responsible for developing the training manual
within 1 week of signing the contract both in Bangla and English language. While
developing the contents, the firm is advised to consult with project officials. Once the
manual is developed, the firm will approve the manual from DAM and project
officials before going to field for training conduction.
ii. Farmer Group: The firm will not be responsible to form farmer groups. Project
representative at upazilla will form the group and assist the training firm to ensure
presence of the farmers.
iii. Trainers: The firm must employ experienced trainers in respective subject matter as
well as assign DAM officials, Upazilla Agricultural Officer, and other related officials
as trainers.
7. Training Supervision and Quality Control
In order to ensure smooth and uninterrupted service delivery during training program, the
firm must ensure readily printed hardcopies of training lecture (in Bangla), quality training
materials, and refreshments for participants. Moreover, logistics support of venue decoration,
electronics, sound system, projector and screen, etc. must not be interrupted. The firm must
assign a representative along with resource persons at least one-day before to ensure
necessary arrangements. For any sort of trouble during the training, the firm must inform
DAM representative or project officials and proactively resolve the issues in favor of the
participants. For overall monitoring of training program, divisional Deputy Directors of
DAM will make frequent visits to training sessions and check the training materials, training
content, and other necessary aspects to ensure quality training delivered so that farmers get
benefitted.
8. Output/Deliverables
i. The firm will ensure a training manual (Bangla) and training materials (pen, folder,
writing pad, etc.) for each participant.
ii. The firm will also provide 25 book-bind hard-copies and soft-copy of all-in-one
training manual (both Bangla and English) to project office.
9. Tentative Timeframe
The training will be provided based on Table 1. Trainings will be held for 1-day, each, for a
specific farmer group of 25 farmers. It is advised to start the training as soon as contract
signing is done and accomplish the training by 30th May, 2021.
10. Preparation of Proposal
The firms should produce a proposal for impact evaluation based on this TOR following PS-5
tender document available in CPTU website and submit to the project office. The proposal
should include two parts: technical and financial.
a) Technical Proposal: The technical proposal should demonstrate what the firm is
proposing for the training, sample training manuals related to subject matter, and its key
trainers including their experience and qualifications relevant to such work.
b) Financial Proposal: The financial proposal should demonstrate statement of expenses in
line with human resource utilization, schedule of training program, remuneration of the
trainers, training materials, marketing tools, refreshments, and other arrangement related
costs with appropriate heads and sub-head breakdowns.
11. Income Tax and VAT and Release of Fund
a) All VAT, taxes, duties, fees, etc., as may be levied under the applicable law, will be
deducted at the source.
b) The fund will be released after submission of training bills and related documents. It is
advised to submit 10 training bills at a time.
12. Communication
The Component Director, SACP (DAM part) will be the contact person for all aspects
relating to this assignment:
Dr. Md. Ashrafuzzaman
Component Director
SACP (DAM part)
Khamarbari, Dhaka-1215
Tel: 01719133509
E-mail: [email protected]
13. General Terms and Conditions
All reports, training manuals, documentaries, videos, and documents captured and prepared
during the training assignment shall be treated as the property of the Department of
Agricultural Marketing (DAM). The reports/documents or any part, therefore, cannot be sold,
used, and reproduced in any manner without prior written approval of DAM. The firm shall
be solely responsible for any type of unexpected/misrepresentation of any information.
14. Deadline for Training Completion
The outsourcing firm will be able to conduct training in any division, district or upazilla
ensuring that all the trainings must have to be completed by the end of May, 2021.